M.C. GREGORY Model A (-)

This is the mouthpiece made famous by Paul Desmond. They typically carry with them that cool sound that he was known for. These are some of the most popular Alto mouthpieces out there, and they are highly sought after. MC Gregory mouthpieces are generally found in relatively closed tip openings, with their largest sizes being the equivalent to an Otto Link 6.

Charecteristics of Gregory Model A:

"Model-A" stamp on back of mouthpiece at the top of the barrell

"M.C. Gregory Los Angeles" stamped in diamond under "Model-A" stamp

"Rico Products Ltd. Distributors" stamped under diamond

Serial number stamped on shank under table

Gold ring around the bottom of the shank

Tip opening and length lay on left side of table

Chamber size on right side of table

While these mouthpiece weren't offered in super large tip openings, they can still handle a lot of air, and vibrate incredibly well. The beak, or bite plate area is very thin on these mouthpieces. This is part of the reason why they vibrate so well. Less material equals a little more freedom for the reed to vibrate. We have seen several of these mouthpieces over time that have small cracks, and even teeth marks cutting all the way through the beak and into the floor. If you ever get to play one of these mouthpieces, and decide that it's for you, make sure to use mouthpiece patches on the beak. These mouthpieces are becoming more and more scarce, and it would be a shame to bite through a good one.

We've seen tip openings from 3 all the way up to 6, and there really isn't a huge shift in size between these three openings. The smallest opening, the 3, generally measures out right around .064", and the largest tip opening, the 6, measures out right around .075". So between the four different tip openings their is only a difference of about .010". All of these mouthpieces were hand finished, and the tips are generally pretty accurate.

M.C. Gregory also made his mouthpieces with relatively small differences in the chamber sizes. The smallest offered was 16, the medium chamber 18, and the large chamber was 20. There isn't a huge difference in these numbers though. The mouthpieces are all medium chamber mouthpieces, just with very small differences.

These mouthpieces were distributed by Rico back in the day, and their name is on every one of them that we have ever seen. Gregory worked very closely with the Rico company for many years.

Artists who play, or have played on Gregory Model-A mouthpieces:

Paul Desmond

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This is the mouthpiece made famous by Paul Desmond. They typically carry with them that cool sound that he was known for. These are some of the most popular Alto mouthpieces out there, and they are highly sought after. MC Gregory mouthpieces are generally found in relatively clo... [more]